KASIHANILAH MEREKA......

Last month, our cat Bochee gave birth again. Ada 4 anak kucing kesemuanya. Sadly, one of them was stolen and eaten by the father. So, there were three left, and when they were strong enough to stand on its own, the three of them selalu bermain-main di tepi rumah.

One morning, I only saw two of them around. I strongly suspected something was not right, so I went to the box where the kitten slept at night and I saw Coco, the other one. At first I thought Coco was still sleeping, but when I pushed the box to wake him up... Coco's body slided lifelessly from one side to another. Coco must have died sometime during the night.

Crying silently, I went to find my brother, Faiz and told him. He went to check on Coco immediately, and he put Coco's body aside. Both of us were of the same opinion that Coco mati kesejukan. Pada masa itu, di JB memang selalu hujan dan di kawasan rumah kami, kesejukannya boleh dikatakan agak teruk, kerana terletak di atas bukit. Bochee, Coco's mother datang berhampiran dengan Coco dan mengiau-ngiau, seolah-seolah memberitahu tentang kesedihannya. At this moment I felt as if my heart was torn into tiny pieces. My feelings were totally indescribable.

I went to find a clean face towel while Faiz sat there with the cats. Then I went to the back of the house, found a cangkul dan menggali lubang di bawah pokok mangga. Apabila lubang yang dicangkul sudah agak dalam, I asked Faiz to wrap poor Coco with the face towel, which he did with extra care, as if to keep him warm. Then he placed Coco carefully into the hole, said goodbye for the last time. After burying Coco, I ran to the garden at the other side, and I plucked some flowers. Untuk setiap species orkid, I memetik sekuntum, dan ada tujuh atau lapan kuntum. And then there was one type of flower, tak tau apa namanya tapi sangat harum, so I petik juga. I menaburkan bunga-bunga itu di atas kubur Coco. This is not a ritual or spiritual whatsoever, and people may think of it as strange. But it is my way of expressing my love for Coco. I did the same when Precious, my goldfish died a few years ago.

After then I searched for a bigger, stronger box and a clean old but thick towel. Kemudian I sendiri yang mengangkat Berry dan Buttercup, adik beradik Coco yang masih hidup, ke dalam kotak itu. Deep in my heart I prayed may they always be warm and safe in the new box.

Last two weeks, when I was in KL to pick up my stuffs, I was about to enter a 7-Eleven when I heard the voice of a kitten. Mengiau dengan kuat dan tak henti-henti. But I saw no kitten there. Then I realized that the voice came from under a car, which must have belonged to one of the residents of the apartment. So I went inside, bought my things as well as a packet of whiskas for kitten. Kononnya nak umpan anak kucing tu keluar dari bawah kereta...bahaya, takut dilanggar tanpa sedar. Tapi.. panggil-panggil tak keluar.. kemudian bila dengar betul-betul rupanya suara anak kucing itu datangnya dari dalam egine compartment kereta... For the next few minutes I termenung dalam kereta memikirkan bagaimana nak mengeluarkan anak kucing itu. There was this little girl yang dengar juga dan cuba mencari-cari anak kucing dan hulurkan tangan tapi tak dapat juga. I dah merasa teramat-amat sedih kerana setiap kali dengar tapak kaki orang nak ke seven-eleven, anak kucing tu akan mengiau sekuat hati, as if crying for its life.

I waited for half an hour in my car, in case the owner of the car appeared. Jadi bolehlah I selamatkan anak kucing tu. I was seriously considering to take the cat with me back to JB jika anak kucing itu tiada ibu atau sesiapa. Kesian sangat.. but then my friend called me and told me he would arrive in a few minutes to help me pack my things. So I did what I could think of at that moment. I ambil sekeping kertas A4 dan tulis dengan marker :

DEAR OWNER OF THIS CAR, I BELIEVE THERE IS A KITTEN TRAPPED IN YOUR ENGINE COMPARTMENT. WOULD YOU PLEASE OPEN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT AND LET THE KITTEN OUT BEFORE YOU START YOUR CAR? THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Then I put the note di celah wiper, with the hope that the owner would see it sebelum menghidupkan enjin. Tapi tidaklah bimbang sangat as the little girl decided to stay there for a while untuk perhatikan kucing tu.

Later, when I drove around that area, I saw that the car was no longer there, and somehow I dapat rasakan yang anak kucing telah dikeluarkan dengan selamat oleh tuan punya kereta. Jika benar, Alhamdulillah dan semoga ianya selamat di mana-mana.

Tonight, when my sister got home from work, I quickly ran outside. Nak suruh dia hantar ke kedai yang berhampiran untuk membeli barang. Bila sampai di kereta, terdengar bunyi anak kucing mengiau. Rasa terperanjat, kerana I ingatkan si Berry or Buttercup yang termasuk ke bawah kereta. Smiling, Lin pun mengangkat anak kucing di atas ribanya. It was a very beautiful and lovely kitten. Warnanya light grey, a very beautiful shade of grey. Apparently the kitten was terrified, yalah mana pernah naik kereta sebelum ni. With a total stranger pula.

(Kata Lin, she went to meet some friends at the college where she previously studied. Her friends yang tunjukkan Lin kucing tu... sangat comel. Bila Lin nak balik, tak ada satupun kucing lain di situ. Kafe tu pun dah nak ditutup. Mulanya Lin fikir, tak apalah nanti mungkin ibunya datang. As she was walking towards her car tiba-tiba anak kucing tu mengejar dia dari belakang... as if telling her... may i follow you, i have no one here... please... Lin yang sememangnya penyayang dengan kucing berasa kasihan dan tak sampai hati untuk meninggalkan kucing itu...dibawanya balik..)

Di kedai, I bought the things that I need, and again, a packet of whiskas for kitten. Sampai saja di rumah, kami terus berikan anak kucing itu makan dan dia makan dengan cepat.. mungkin dah lama tak dapat makanan yang proper agaknya...kasihan sungguh... Faiz pun turut sama menemankan anak kucing itu makan... by this time Bochee was already there.. dia tercium-cium anak kucing tu.. agaknya bila merasakan bau anak kucing itu tidak sama dengan anaknya dia pun terus berlalu. 3 kucing lain pun begitu.. habis makan anak kucing ini sudah tidak mengiau-ngiau lagi... Seemed to me dia dah mula menyukai suasana sekelilingnya.. even tried to play with Bono, Bozo and Bobo. Tapi the three of them bukan saja tak menghiraukannya, malah semacam garang pula. Mungkin kerana bukan adik mereka...atau mungkin baru kenal...

We started to worry... si Bobo boleh tahan suka bergaduh.. takut diapa-apakan pula si kecil yang baru datang. Nak dibawa masuk ke dalam... agak susah (our Mom doesn't like cats.. leceh sikit) plus we have a baby living with us.. And then there's a kucing liar yang selalu attack our cats malam-malam... (not Wang Wang, a new one. Wang Wang is also missing for a long time now).

Finally we decided to take it back to the college... at least no cat could harm it there.. sekurang-kurangnya malam ini ia tak akan lapar...and the area pula berpagar besi yang agak rapat.. so no threat from dogs... lagipun sedih juga memikirkan kalau si kecil ni ada ibu, alangkah sedihnya jika ibunya mencari dan tak jumpa.. dan sedihnya jika dia mencari ibunya di malam hari...but me made a pact.. if tomorrow Lin datang dan si kecil itu masih berseorangan.. she would definitely take her back with her.

We drove to the college to put the kitten there. We put it in a lovely basket, alaskan dengan two layers of tiny towel so that it will be warm and we put the packet of whiskas together. Yang amat menyedihkan, selepas kami letakkan ia di sudut kafe dan penjaga kafe nak mengunci grill, it came running dan mengiau-ngiau.. seolah-olah nak ikut pulang.... we stood there for quite a while.. sedih dan tak sampai hati.. yet serba-salah.. we thought of its safety... at least here..tak ada kucing yang akan kacau dia... kemudian kami angkat dia dan letakkan kembali dalam bakul dan lari dengan lajunya supaya dia tak sempat mengejar... because we said to ourselves... one more time dia kejar lagi we would take it back, no matter what....agaknya kerana tak nampak kelibat kami, anak kucing itu tidak keluar lagi. Esok, Lin akan ke college untuk melawatnya.

And I would like to share this with all of you.....

HUBUNGAN MANUSIA DAN HAIWAN (quoted from daawah.com)

Bersama-sama dengan manusia, tuhan menjadikan binatang yang juga makhlukNya Firman Allah:
"Dan tiada satu pun di antara haiwan melata di bumi atau pun burung terbang dengan dua sayapnya melainkan mereka juga umat-umat seperti kamu; tiada satu pun yang Kami lupakan di dalam Kitab, kemudian kepada tuhannya mereka dikumpulkan." Al An'am 38

Jelas dari ayat di atas menunjukkan binatang juga diberi penilaian dan haknya. Dengan itu manusia juga mempunyai tanggungjawab terhadap haiwan. Antaranya:

1. Memberinya makan dan minum bila diperlukan. Sabda Rasulullah: "Sesiapa yang tidak mengasihani tidak akan dikasihani."

2. Mengasihani binatang. Sabda Rasulullah apabila baginda melihat beberapa orang menjadikan burung sebagai sasaran panah mereka: "Allah melaknat orang yang menjadikan sesuatu yang mempunyai roh sebagai sasaran." Mutafaq 'alaih

3. Janganlah menyiksa haiwan ketika menyembelihnya atau membunuhnya. Sembelihan hendaklah dengan pisau yang tajam.

4. Janganlah menyiksa binatang dengan apa cara sekalipun. Sabda Rasulullah:"Seorang perempuan dimasukkan ke dalam neraka disebabkan seekor kucing yang dikurungnya hingga mati, perempuan itu akan masuk neraka kerana kucing itu tidak diberi makan, tidak diberi minum dan tidak dibiarkan memakan binatang-binatang tanah". Riwayat Bukhari

Bagaimanapun, dibenarkan membunuh binatang yang menyakiti manusia atau yang menimbulkan bahaya kepada manusia. Tetapi pembunuhan itu hendaklah dengan cara tidak menyiksanya.

MY HORRIFYING EXPERIENCE - the completed version

At dinner tonight, I had the chance to bersembang-sembang with my brother Firdaus and sister-in-law Ayati (Anis' parents).

Firdaus was telling us about the accident which occurred at dawn this morning on his way to work. He worked at an oil and gas fabrication company at Pasir Gudang, so he used the same route i.e Pasir Gudang Highway. That highway is known to be a very dangerous one because it is a main route for all the trailers and lorries to the Port Of Pasir Gudang. Since he worked there, he has witnessed road accidents which claimed the life of 20 people separately.

According to Fir, the accident this morning involved a motorcyclist and a vegetable lorry. The authorities were not there yet and he could see the body of the unfortunate man covered with newspapers while his motorcycle was badly crushed.

That reminded me of my own horrifying experience last week as I was driving back to JB from KL after taking my stuffs in KL.

I was driving alone, and it was nearly 1.00 a.m. in the morning of May 31, 2006. The location was at the KL-JB highway, southbound, and I just passed Seremban, heading towards Melaka. Frankly, Alhamdulillah, so far I have no problems whatsoever driving alone, and at night, even at 1.00 a.m. Alhamdulillah I jarang sekali rasa mengantuk bila drive long-distance. But really, this does not mean I can bersenang-senang hati driving.

That night there were mostly lorries and express buses.. and their driving was what I classify as Recklessly Life-Threatening.

As I was driving at this one corner at 80-100 kmph (which is quite slow, actually given that this is a highway), secara tiba-tiba, there was one long trailer tiba-tiba drive masuk ke jalan daripada tepi jalan. Probably the driver was resting, and was about to resume driving. Tau sajalah, trailer... bila baru masuk ke jalan raya.. really, really slow, macam semut sakit kaki! And I really had to brake like mad... even though my speed was really that slow (80-100kmph) and managed to stop barely 2-3 inches from that damn trailer!!!!!!!!! That was not all, my friend, that was not all. From my rearview mirror, I saw the front lights of a bus, semakin lama semakin besar heading straightly towards my car... which only meant the bus was REALLY laju!!!!! So I did the only thing I could think of, I pulled my car to the left side of the road (emergency lane), and in short seconds the bus arrived exactly at the spot where my car was a few seconds ago...but it was still moving and out of a sudden the bus driver had to pull the bus to the right lane of the road.. and , LUCKILY THERE WAS NO OTHER VEHICLE COMING FROM BEHIND!!!!!!!

I was totally dumbstruck and shocked for the next few seconds. When I recovered, I drove behind the truck for the next few minutes and guess what??? I tekan my hon panjang-panjang dan berkali-kali. I did not cry whatsoever, did not feel upset in the least. All I was feeling was anger, extreme annoyance and hatred. So mad was I that I had forgotten to make the approrpriate thing, that is, to dial the number shown at the back of any commercial transport should they drive recklessly. And when I overtook the trailer, I deliberately drove slowly when I passed the driver. I glared at him but that moron never looked at me and pretended that nothing happened. Only God knows how much cursing I have generously thrown to the driver in my heart!!!!

Yes, so you have to drive at night, and you do have mouths to feed at home. But who gives you the licence to risk the life of others and to drive RECKLESSLY and endangering people in the course of "mencari rezeki"????? What, you think other people do not have family???????? How could you feed your children, when the money is obtained by having people killed tragically by your own recklessness?

I swear, if I were killed that night (Na'uuzubillahiminzaaliq), jika diizinkan Allah, my own spirit or hantu whatsoever will go and find that driver and I will find him and throw him and his truck in the deepest of the jurang at the highway in between Pagoh and Yong Peng! Please do not say I am cruel because Dear God, his recklessness took my life!

And I was even madder tonight when Fir told me that he had encountered a pretty similar experience a few years back at Pedas-Linggi, on that JB-KL Highway, northbound, on his way to Shah Alam. A huge lorry was trying to move into the right lane but when Fir flashed the headlight, the driver immediately pulled the lorry back into the left lane.. So Fir went ahead and overtook the lorry.. just as he was about to pass the lorry, the lorry driver drove into the right lane when Fir's car was exactly next to the lorry. On impulse, he immediately drove his car to his right side.. guess what? The car went straight into the pokok-pokok bunga perhiasan which served the purpose of a divider of the highway. I do not want to imagine what would happen if it was not pokok-pokok bunga and was actually a concrete divider... GOD FORBID! Habis semua pokok bunga patah riuk, because he was actually driving my father's Volvo, the one that is really fast and panjang lebar, so it really swept off all the pokok-pokok... itu nasib baik tak terbabas ke the other side of the highway where cars were coming from the opposite direction!!!

At first he was panicked, as he put it.."tangan menggigil, nak masuk gear pun tak boleh"... When he recovered, he quickly chased the lorry. Bila dah jumpa lorry tu, sengaja he drove next to the lorry and shouted ""Words Of Appreciation"" to the driver. Either the driver was drunk or sleepy, but one thing for sure - he was reckless and careless. Yeah, I guess it was not very nice for us to do that to the drivers, but hey, bila nyawa dah terancam, agak susah untuk bersabar, lebih-lebih lagi akibat perbuatan yang cuai, lalai dan tak langsung bertimbangrasa. I guess we, the real descendants of Laksamana Bentan memang tak boleh diusik agaknya. We are by nature ordinary people who live ordinary life. We believe in living fairly, honestly and in harmony. It is not in our nature to cause any harm to others. But please do not touch our family, friends or relatives for no apparent reason. We could 'melenting' like mad.

Note :

1. I thank Allah endlessly for saving me on that horrifying night, and for keeping me calm and not panicking, hence I was able to think quickly and sensibly.

2. Lessons learned : BE ALERT ALL THE TIME WHEN DRIVING, DAY OR NIGHT.

: The rearview and side mirrors are invented for a very important purpose.

: BE EXTRA CAREFUL WHEN DRIVING UP OR DOWN A STEEP HILL.

You can never predict what's waiting for you!

: When driving at night, do not switch on the radio loudly, because you will

not be able to stay fully alert this way.

: Do not take things for granted and do not think other drivers are as careful

and mindful as you are.

: TRY TO BE IN CONTROL ALL THE TIME BECAUSE THIS WILL ENABLE

YOU TO THINK RATIONALLY AND HENCE, MAKE SOUND JUDGEMENT

AND DECISIONS.

3. I really have high regards for lorry drivers who made safety their number one priority. These kind of drivers made full use of the R & R place - they took quick showers to refresh themselves, took a nap or even sleep when they know that they are tired and are not able to be alert, or even take the trouble to stop and get a cup of strong coffee to remain alert. These people are the real human beings, who are not selfish, who really use their brain. They are well-informed, and bertimbangrasa and berperikemanusiaan. Semoga Allah memberkati rezeki yang mereka perolehi dan memurahkan rezeki mereka.

4. A lot of things could happen to me that night:

A - I did not see the trailer that appeared out of no where.

B - I did not manage to brake my car.

C - I did not see the express bus coming behind me.

D - I panicked and did not know what to do.

E - I did not manage to pull my car to the emergency lane.

F - The bus did not manage to brake on time.

G - The bus did not manage to divert itself to the right lane.

H - There was a vehicle coming from behind the minute the bus turned into the right lane.

I - There was a car at the emergency lane the moment I had to pull into it.

Ya Allah, kecutnya perut mengenangkan the impact. Imagine the explosion... kalaupun it's between the bus and the trailer, pastinya I terpaksa menyaksikannya, mau tak mau. Or... kalau tak sempat masuk ke Emergency Lane.. mau jadi sandwich.. Na'uuzubillah....

5. To all my friends, please do remember to recite this before you begin your journey.

Ayatul Kursi,

Du'a Menaiki Kenderaan Darat:

Maha Suci Allah yang memudahkan ini (perjalanan @ kenderaan) bagi kami (1) Dan

tiadalah kuasa kami mempergunakannya tanpa kurnia dari Engaku (2) Sesungguhnya kami

akan kembali kepada Tuhan Kami (3).

then,

BismillahitawakkaltualAllahuwalahaulawalaquwataillabillahil'aliyilazim.

6. Semoga kita semua dipelihara Allah dalam segala keadaan. Semoga selamat sentiasa dan dilindungi daripada kecuaian diri sendiri dan insan lain. Amin.

To My Special Someone

Assalamualaikum, this is from Johor Bahru City. From this moment onwards I am officially relocated to this city until year end, Insya Allah.

This song is the favourite song of my very special someone who is currently in KL and is working with our national airline. It is also one of my favourites.

If You're Not The One (Daniel Bedingfield)

If you’re not the one then why does my soul feel glad today?
If you’re not the one then why does my hand fit yours this way?
If you are not mine then why does your heart return my call
If you are not mine would I have the strength to stand at all

I never know what the future brings
But I know you are here with me now
We’ll make it through
And I hope you are the one I share my life with

I don’t want to run away but I can’t take it, I don’t understand
If I’m not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am?
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?

If I don’t need you then why am I crying on my bed?
If I don’t need you then why does your name resound in my head?
If you’re not for me then why does this distance maim my life?
If you’re not for me then why do I dream of you as my wife?

I don’t know why you’re so far away
But I know that this much is true
We’ll make it through
And I hope you are the one I share my life with
And I wish that you could be the one I die with
And I pray in you’re the one I build my home with
I hope I love you all my life

I don’t want to run away but I can’t take it, I don’t understand
If I’m not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?

‘Cause I miss you, body and soul so strong that it takes my breath away
And I breathe you into my heart and pray for the strength to stand today
‘Cause I love you, whether it’s wrong or right
And though I can’t be with you tonight
And know my heart is by your side

I don’t want to run away but I can’t take it, I don’t understand
If I’m not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am
Is there any way that I could stay in your arms?

May this distance makes us stronger, tougher and closer than ever. May Allah bless us in whatever we are doing, May He protect us, May He blessed our relationship. And May Allah protect our family, beloved friends and their family, our relatives, our pets, and all Muslimin and Muslimah worlide. Amin.